Information Collection: Cooperation With States at Commercial Nuclear Power Plants and Other Nuclear Production and Utilization Facilities, Policy Statement

AGENCY:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Renewal of existing information collection; request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) invites public comment on the renewal of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for an existing collection of information. The information collection is entitled, “Cooperation with States at Commercial Nuclear Power Plants and Other Nuclear Production and Utilization Facilities, Policy Statement.”

DATES:

Submit comments by November 26, 2018. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the Commission is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before this date.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit comments by any of the following methods:

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0063. Address questions about docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges; telephone: 301-287-9127; email: Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document.
• Mail comments to: David Cullison, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Mail Stop: T-2 F43, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting comments, see “Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments” in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David Cullison, Office of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2084; email: INFOCOLLECTS.Resource@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0063 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain publicly-available information related to this action by any of the following methods:

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0063.
• NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the ADAMS Public Documents collection at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select “Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.” For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The supporting statement associated with the information collections for the policy statement is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML18171A396.
• NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
• NRC's Clearance Officer: A copy of the collection of information and related instructions may be obtained without charge by contacting the NRC's Clearance Officer, David Cullison, Office of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2084; email: INFOCOLLECTS.Resource@nrc.gov.

B. Submitting Comments

The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information in comment submissions that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your comment submission. All comment submissions are posted at http://www.regulations.gov and entered into ADAMS. Comment submissions are not routinely edited to remove identifying or contact information.

If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons for submission to the OMB, then you should inform those persons not to include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove such information before making the comment submissions available to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Background

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35), the NRC is requesting public comment on its intention to request the OMB's approval for the information collection summarized below.

1. The title of the information collection: Cooperation With States at Commercial Nuclear Power Plants and Other Nuclear Production and Utilization Facilities, Policy Statement.

2. OMB approval number: 3150-0163.

3. Type of submission: Revision.

4. The form number, if applicable: Not applicable.

5. How often the collection is required or requested: On occasion, when a State or federally recognized Indian Tribe wishes to observe NRC inspections or perform inspections for the NRC or when a State or federally recognized Indian Tribe wishes to negotiate an agreement to observe or perform inspections. States with an instrument of cooperation or a State Resident Engineer have both regular reporting and occasion-specific reporting.

6. Who will be required or asked to respond: States and federally recognized Tribes interested in observing or performing inspections.

7. The estimated number of annual responses: 209.

8. The estimated number of annual respondents: 33.

9. The estimated number of hours needed annually to comply with the information collection requirement or request: 1,309 hours.

10. Abstract: States and federally recognized Indian Tribes are involved and interested in monitoring the safety status of nuclear power plants and other nuclear production and utilization facilities. This involvement is, in part, in response to the States' and Tribes' public health and safety responsibilities and, in part, in response to their citizens' desire to become more knowledgeable about the safety of nuclear power plants and other nuclear production and utilization facilities. States and Tribes have identified NRC inspections as one possible source of knowledge for their personnel regarding NRC licensee activities, and the NRC, through the policy statement, “Cooperation with States at Commercial Nuclear Power Plants and Other Nuclear Production or Utilization Facilities” (57 FR 6462; February 25, 1992), has been amenable to accommodating States' and Tribes' needs in this regard. The NRC uses the information collected under this information collection requirement to allow States and federally recognized Indian Tribes to participate in or observe inspections at NRC-licensed facilities. The types of information collected include written requests identifying specific inspections States and Tribes wish to observe; identification-related information required for site access to NRC-licensed facilities; training and qualifications of State and Tribal personnel participating in inspections; information required to define inspection roles for States and Tribes; and information to coordinate NRC and State and Tribal inspections.

III. Specific Requests for Comments

The NRC is seeking comments that address the following questions:

1. Is the proposed collection of information necessary for the NRC to properly perform its functions? Does the information have practical utility?

2. Is the estimate of the burden of the information collection accurate?

3. Is there a way to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected?

4. How can the burden of the information collection on respondents be minimized, including the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology?